Finding offroad routes in Mapsource/276c

[Loud640]

Hi,

I have a Garmin276c and City Select Europe 7

I am now living in Spain, and want to find unpaved roads in Mapsource, so I can start getting dirty.

I notice that I can see unpaved on the 276c, but custom route set to prefer minor roads doesn't seem to pick them up. When I look in MapSource I don't see the unpaved roads at all.

I guess this is a user error, but I could do with some help.

Thanks
Neil

 

[ebbo]

I notice that I can see unpaved on the 276c, but custom route set to prefer minor roads doesn't seem to pick them up. When I look in MapSource I don't see the unpaved roads at all.

Well, if you can see them on the GPS, they’re on the PC too, turn up detail to High and zoom in to around 1 mile, you should see them then.

 

[Loud640]

Ebbo,

Thanks for that, I had another poke around MapSource, and got it. It was an option called "show GPS map detail"

I could still do with knowing if there is a way to calculate to prefer off road routes.

Thanks
Neil

 

[HMR]

Ebbo,
Thanks for that, I had another poke around MapSource, and got it. It was an option called "show GPS map detail"

Right. Don't forget to use this setting also in the 276C. (Map Page > Set Up Map > General > Detail=Most)

I could still do with knowing if there is a way to calculate to prefer off road routes.

Sorry, there is no way to do that automatically. In MapSource under Edit > Preferences > Routing you can set the slider to Prefer Minor Roads and Calculation Style to Shorter Distance but will not help much.

The probem is that the map, City Select or City Navigator, don't have accurate info about the road surface in the road attribut database. Navteq, who make the map, wants to include that info but the local government maps they base the Garmin maps on normally don't have this info.

You have to do it manually. Begin with creating a route from start to finnish. Continue with "gripping" the route and "snapping" it to roads you want to drive on. You need to have a high resolution topo map beside you. Continue with snapping the route onto small roads utill you are happy with it. When finished use the "View in Google Earth" feature to verify the route.

For small road riding you should try the following setup of the 276C:

Main Menu > Display > Color Mode = Night
Main Menu > Setup > Guidance > Off-Route Recalculation = Off (Important!)
Main Menu > Setup > Guidance > Next Turn Pop-up = Held NAV Key Only
Map Page Menu > Hide Directions
Map Page Menu > Set Up Page Layout > Full Screen Map
Map Page Menu > Set Up Map > Detail = Most
Map Page Menu > Set Up Map > Auto Zoom = Off (Important!)
Map Page Menu > Set Up Map > Orientation = Course Up

Set the zoom rate to 200 m (600 ft), activate a route and go! In front of you you now have a moving map that acts as a co-driver not only showing you the way but also showing all curves coming up.

 

[Loud640]

Thats a brilliant response, thanks it really helps me out.

Thanks again
Neil